The invention relates to an adjustable anti-theft device for use primarily with wheelchairs of the folding variety, however, this adjustable anti-theft device may be suitable for use with other types of folding apparatuses as well.
Wheelchairs are relatively expensive devices costing thousands of dollars in some cases. They generally come in two varietiesxe2x80x94folding and non-folding types. The folding variety is susceptible to an increasing amount of theft because of their high value and the ease with which some can be folded, stored and carried off. As one might expect, the incidence of theft of non-folding wheelchairs is substantially less.
Many hospitals, nursing homes, rest homes and similar facilities are experiencing ever increasing costs due to the loss of folding wheelchairs. Most wheelchairs utilized in the aforementioned facilities are of a conventional folding type. Consequently, these wheelchairs are capable of being easily folded and inadvertently carried off by patients"" family or deliberately stolen by folding them and putting them in the trunk of a car.
The prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,120, also discloses a locking mechanism which may be designed into the wheelchair at the time of manufacture or which may be added later as in the present invention. However, said prior art prohibits a folding wheelchair from being folded by restricting a pair of centrally pivoted cross braces under the wheelchair seat which move from an X-shaped configuration to a more parallel configuration when the wheelchair is being folded. This mechanism is difficult to reach and to operate and particularly presents a problem when the wheelchair user is unassisted in the locking and securing the anti-theft device.
By being able to selectively restrict a folding wheelchair from folding, some of the aforementioned theft could be avoided. Consequently, there is a market demand for an inexpensive anti-theft device that can be designed into newly manufactured wheelchairs or, alternatively, easily fitted to existing folding wheelchairs which selectively prohibits them from folding when they are used and allows them to be folded and stored when they are not being used.
Therefore, the several objects of the present invention are to provide an improved wheelchair with an anti-theft device, the location of which is easily accessible making for easy locking and unlocking. It is another object of the invention to provide an easily accessible anti-theft device for use with wheelchairs and other folding apparatuses. It is another object of the invention to permit usability on many types of folding wheelchairs, not just those types that have an X-shaped folding cross-member configuration as in the prior art. It is another object of the invention to permit alternative placement of the anti-theft device, both in the front and at the rear of the folding wheelchair or between many of the pairs of vertical or horizontal collapsedly opposed structural members of the wheelchair. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a low cost solution to a high cost problem.
The present invention is an anti-theft device primarily for use with a folding wheelchair operated by selectively preventing folding of the wheelchair when the anti-theft device is engaged. This is accomplished by preventing from folding, any pair of collapsedly opposing members comprising a portion of the chassis of the folding wheelchair that collapse toward one another when the wheelchair is being folded.
A left member and a right member of the anti-theft device are pivotally attached to said pair of collapsedly opposing members of the folding wheelchair by an attachment means. Said left and right members overlap and are pivotally connected to one another by a pivotal attachment means. A locking mechanism selectively prevents the left and right members from pivoting relative to one another about the pivotal attachment means, thus preventing the wheelchair from folding.